Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons treat the bony and soft tissue conditions of the head and neck, including the jaws, oral tissues and teeth. The work ranges from relatively simple dentoalveolar surgery, such as the removal of impacted wisdom teeth, to major complex surgery for head and neck cancer or facial deformity.

The GIRFT oral and maxillofacial surgery national report seeks to improve the experience for thousands of OMFS patients every year through shorter stays, fewer admissions, fewer repeat visits and potentially shorter waiting times.

The report’s recommendations include looking at why more simple surgery, such as wisdom tooth removal, isn’t being done outside of hospital, as well as further developing hub and spoke networks for OMFS across the country, especially for head and neck cancer work and orthognathic (jaw) surgery. GIRFT has aligned its work in this regard with NHS England’s head and neck cancer services review.

Maire Morton

Oral and maxillofacial surgery clinical lead

Consultant in oral and maxillofacial

A consultant of many years standing, Maire has an enduring interest in service redesign to produce clinical efficiency and is passionate about initiatives that promote reduction in variation and consistency in outcomes so that patients’ expectations can be met.

A former president of the council of BAOMS, Maire has held the role of consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust since 1987, where she is also divisional director for surgery and anaesthetics. She has also been consultant in cleft lip and palate at RMCH until 2016.

Maire has been a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire since 2012 and is currently Chair of the Intercollegiate Examination Board for the MOralSurg 2016 and an Examiner for MOralSurg. Since 2012 she has led the OSCE development group.

She was elected to the council of BAOMS in 1996 and served two terms. She filled the role of honorary treasurer (2003-2006) and elected president (2010). Maire qualified with BDS from Guys Hospital and worked in Sheffield and Aberdeen before undertaking maxillofacial surgery training in the North West.

Useful information

Management of painful Temporomandibular disorder in adults (2024)

GIRFT has worked with the Royal College of Surgeons’ Faculty of Dental Surgery to develop this guideline in response to recommendations in the GIRFT national report for oral and maxillofacial surgery (2018). It provides evidence-based approaches to the provision of care along a structured and clear pathway to improve care provision, reduce the impact of painful TMD and hopefully its likelihood to become persistent.

Download the guideline >

The organisation of oral and maxillofacial services: developing integrated networks of care advice pack (2020)

GIRFT and the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) have issued an advice pack on the organisation of oral and maxillofacial services into networks. The advice pack supports the implementation of recommendations in the GIRFT national report for oral and maxillofacial surgery (2018), to improve efficiency by organising care through networks, setting out practical advice on how this can be achieved.

Download the advice pack >

Local networks for oral and maxillofacial surgery support better outcomes for patients

GIRFT’s OMFS national report called for work to continue on developing the ‘hub and spoke’ approach to oral and maxillofacial surgery, to ensure patients are receiving the best possible care according to their needs.

The programme’s specialty review outlined the need to centralise services and build on existing hub and spoke networks, especially in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer and those needing corrective jaw surgery. This configuration would enable central hubs to focus on inpatient work, while outlying spoke hospitals take care of day cases and out-patients, which form a high proportion of oral and maxillofacial work.